Kia Forte vs Honda Civic

Comments

just got back from my local kia dealership to test drive a forte sx.car drove well with lots of power and great handleing.however,the deal went sour when the dealership tried to low ball me on my trade-in.i have a 2009 mitsubishi lancer ES with only 6,200 miles in mint condition and the dealer offered me only $10,200.00 when on edmunds and black book say the car is worth somewhere in the $13-14 range as a trade-in by the dealer..

i owned a 07 honda civic lx coupe a few years ago till it was totalled about a year ago.anyway,i found the civic to have great handling,and mpg but had terrible road noise which was driveing me nuts especially on the highway..i recently test drove a forte sx which was very fast and was also very quiet on the road..more quiet than the civic i had.forte has better features,better warranty,and is a sharper looking car as well although resale value is a top concern with all kia's.this is one area where the honda has the forte beat is very good resale value.

just took my kia forte on it's first long test drive from hallandale,fla to orlando which is about 200 miles or so..anyway,my impressions of the forte are as follows....very smooth ride,very little road or wind noise,doesn't get blown around the highway like the 2010 toyota corolla that i test drove before deciding on the forte.car handles great with good power to boot.i averaged about 33 mpg on the drive up to orlando which is about what the sticker says i should be getting..getting lots of compliments on the dark-cherry metallic color as well.

I live in Pembroke Pines, FL. What dealer did you get your Kia from? I need to get a car for my son and we are thinking about this car. Did you lease or buy? Please tell me anything you think I can benefit from.

hi david,i purchased the forte from gunther kia on 441 in ft.laud just off of 595.it's actually a kia-vw-mazda dealership.anyway,about the forte i researched and test drove all of the cars that are in the forte's class such as toyota corolla,civic sedan,hyndai elantra,and the mazda 3...iam glad that i saved the forte test drive for last because the forte won out over the rest of those cars.i find myself trying to believe that this is infact a kia because it rides,looks,and feels as if i had spent much more money than i did.it's a terrific value when you consider the standard features as well as the great warranty.if your in the market for a car of this class i would definitly atleast give the forte a test drive and you won't even bother test driveing the rest.if you do decide to purchase from gunther kia speak to either lloyd or howard fenton and they will give you a great price...hope this review helps..steven

hi david,i purchased the forte from gunther kia on 441 in ft.laud just off of 595.it's actually a kia-vw-mazda dealership.anyway,about the forte i researched and test drove all of the cars that are in the forte's class such as toyota corolla,civic sedan,hyndai elantra,and the mazda 3...iam glad that i saved the forte test drive for last because the forte won out over the rest of those cars.i find myself trying to believe that this is infact a kia because it rides,looks,and feels as if i had spent much more money than i did.it's a terrific value when you consider the standard features as well as the great warranty.if your in the market for a car of this class i would definitly atleast give the forte a test drive and you won't even bother test driveing the rest.if you do decide to purchase from gunther kia speak to either lloyd or howard fenton and they will give you a great price...hope this review helps..steven

we took our daughter to test drive a civic lx which she really wanted - she liked it and then i had her try the kia forte se - she knew nothing about it but once she got in and rode it she was sold as were we - many more nice features and just seemed roomier and more open and impressed with safety features..the reason she tried an se is because it was a demo model they were trying to sell..Automatic with only option being a moonroof. If possible, I would love any comments on if this seems like a good deal - msrp for se with moonroof and dest chg = 19600; this demo car has a lot of miles on it at 7,000. They said they would sell for 16100 before tax and other fees...would you take this deal? thanks

ajri02, My personal opinion is to get the Honda, especially if you plan on keeping this car through high mileage. You will get the Kia cheaper and the Hondas have more road noise than I would like, but the Honda will last longer and hold more value. The value becomes important when you have a wreck and file an insurance claim. I have an Accord in the driveway with just shy of 500,000 miles on it and the insurance company paid for major repairs from a rear-end collision at 290,000 miles and a 50 MPH collision with a deer at over 450,000 miles. Just bought a 2010 Civic EX-L and am getting 35-39 MPG mixed driving, but leaning towards more highway driving.

Don't understand how someone can say this about a new model car...pure speculation on their part. Having a current generation Civic myself, one can definitely see similar styling cues with the Forte...think the Forte actually nailed it on styling as compared to the Civic...a somewhat better looking design. Seems like many car makers "borrow" certain styling when coming up with new models...many times better than the original...but that is all personal opinion. Will definitely have the wife try the new Forte when the 2011 models appear among all the other econoboxes out there.

i have had my forte ex sedan for about 3 months now and just returned from a 1500 mile road trip with the forte.all i can say is that this car even in it's first year will give the other cars in this class a run for it's money.i traded in a 09 lancer es for the forte and the forte out performs it in handleing and power as well as being more quiet driveing as well.usually 1st year model cars need some tweaking for a couple years to get them right but kia has gotten the forte right the 1st time with little tweaking necessary except maybe a little bit better mpg for the 4 cyl.i test drove a toyota corolla,honda civic sedan,and a mazda 3 the same day i purchased the forte.corolla was horrible with bad handling,no power and worst of all got blown all over the highway by the slightest gust of wind.civic sedan was decent but had bad road noise,mazda 3 handled very well but like the civic had horrible road noise while the forte handled just as well and has more power and was much quieter inside than the other cars and to top it all off has a much better warranty.

first of all,i really can't judge the cost of ownership being that the car is still brand new with only 4,100 miles on it and only 3 month's old.i haven't even done the 1st oil change which will be done at 5000 miles.the highway milaege is pretty good but the city milaege is not the best and i don't think it is getting the advertised 25 mpg city although the car is still breaking in and will get better as the car breaks in.the only annoyances i have had with this car was with the salesman who didn't stop talking during the entire test drive.i guess if i had to choose one it would be the seatbelt chime reminder but what car doesn't have that??my only regret is that i didn't wait for the forte koupe to come out..i recently went back to the kia dealership to get some touch-up paint and noticed a blue forte koupe sx sitting on the showroom floor.i was drooling over it..what a sharp looking car.

forgot to mention in my previous post that my insurance actually went down with the forte probably due to the many safety features including anti-lock brakes with 4-wheel disks and the many airbags also..plus i have a excelent driveing record with no points or accidents or tickets for about 10 years now.

:confuse: Im at a stand still in the car buying market. I really like the forte models. i test drove the ex forte koup manual... fell in love! but now im contemplating if i'd like the size of the sedan more. im 23 and hope to have the car for a long time so space may or may not be important (kids?). also, the idea of four doors seems more conveinent since i sell handmade jewlery. still, the trunk is a great feature on both models. i like the exterior of the sedan, but the look of the koup is far more attractive to me, however i question the comfortablity for passengers/cargo. also im not sure if want automatic or manual. ive only ever owned a 2 door manual, so its kind of all ive ever known. any input would be appreciated and helpful to my decision making. thank you! :confuse: peace.

manual-trannied Forte Koup and Forte sedan from Kia. Apparently some people are having trouble shifting through the gears, for some reason. Do your research and test drive thoroughly. Kia needs to fix the problem...if there is one, that is.

While I think many of us appreciate Kia's attempt to bring something worthwhile to the table, this Koup just doesn't cut the mustard. It kind of reminds me of the story of the first successfully cloned animal; you remember ... Dolly the sheep from about nine years ago. Dolly seemed great until scientists found out that she had all kinds of health issues, cancers, and various other terminal illnesses. In the same sense, the Kia Koup is a botched clone job of the Civic Si.

Although the Koup has stolen basically its entire interior concept from the Si (ie; red stitched seats, identical placement of all buttons, etc.) the Kia falls very ... very flat in the execution. Interior quality is literally piss poor. Meanwhile, for Honda, the interior is arguably the Si's top feature. The Kia also boasts an interesting engine; slightly larger than the Si's 2.0 Vtec, yet ultimatly lacking the eagerness to rev like the Si. Lastly, the gearbox. Ummm ... yeah. While the Si has had a very small, yet known and addressed issue with the third gear synchro, the Kia Koup has a very large, very hideous monster inside its manual variant. This monster eats your patience for dinner, and then devours your fun factor for dessert.

At the end of the day, who is going to pay $20k + for a slow, chinced-out version of an Si that can be had for about $1K more? Oh, and gauranteed, the Si would hold its value way better, so it pays for itself in the end. That being said, this Koup is just a sheep following a leader. Unfortunately for Kia, this sheep is just like Dolly, riddled with terminal illnesses and destined to fail.

Your comparison between the sheep (Dolly) and the car (Kia Koup) while strange and amusing is flawed. Dolly, while dying @ age 6 years was not riddled with "terminal illnesses" but instead died from a form of lung cancer not uncommon in sheep (indeed several from the same flock from which the sheep from whom she was cloned also died from the same disease) especially those who lived indoors. Anyhow, I have read that while the Kia has manual transmission problems it is, I believe, related to smooth clutch take-up ( due to a touchy throttle) and ones inability to drive off smoothly from a complete stop more than actual shifting problems. Honda on the other hand has had synchro problems that requires transmission removal and disassembly to correct. So, which is better either a jerky or a tire chirping start or down-time for mechanical repair and possibly not having the problem corrected permanently,(?) something I also believe I have read on these sites.

I'm looking for a comfortable car that will last me 10 years, that will be safe and fun to drive, and that I can haggle to under $16000. I test drove several cars recently (Honda Fit, Honda Civic, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte), and the Forte, with its standard ABS brakes, stability control, and Bluetooth, blew all the other cars out of the water... except for its suspension. All the cars up to the Forte had suspensions that could drive over a large, deep pothole (which I did on the test drives) as if it were a small, smooth, bump in the road. When I drove over the same potholes in the Forte, it actually gave the car a sizable jolt. Understand that this is the "sports tuning," but I'm not planning on racing this car and would rather have the smoother ride.

Is there another car on the market that offers the same safety features as the Forte but has a more forgiving suspension, while still being under 20K? If it's available as a five door hatchback, that would be even better.

Did you mention this problem to the salesman when you got back from your test drive? Seeing you liked everything else except that specific problem I would be inclined to go back and test drive another but get them to make sure the tire pressure is at the correct level. They are shipped with over 40 lbs pressure and sometimes this gets overlooked, not saying that is the problem but it could be. I haven't driven a Forte so can't comment on that aspect. (I own a Rondo)

I test drove one a couple months back and don't remember the harshness you encountered. Do you remember if it had the premium package with aluminum wheels? Those are 16's with slightly thinner side walls. If that was the case test drive an EX without the premium package that comes with 15 inchers. Those have slightly thicker sidewalls which would give you a little more cush and make sure like the previous poster said, check the tire pressure. Should be closer to 30lbs or so. I bet that setup rides just fine.

If your willing to wait the Elantra will be out later this year. Same features but more tuned for comfort ..

well the honda civic is said to be a revolutionary car for its class, futuristic in a way that doesn't make it look like some car from a cartoon and also won the best re-designed car in 2006 for Kelley Blue book so Honda did do something right. I also have to say the person who designed the new lines for kia(forte sedan/koup, sorento, soul) is also the same guy that worked for audi that designed the TT and the A2 Peter Schreyer. You should look into the Kia k7, its only out in South Korea as now, but hopefully to come to the states

I just recently test drove a forte ex and lx sedan and have to say as much as i like the car, the car does have a bit of road noise. Drove a civic sedan as well and the road noise is about the same if not worse, but the civic does have a smoother feel to the drive. Don't get me wrong, im not saying the forte has a rough ride but you find yourself feeling the bumps alot worse then the Civic. Regardless i would still choose a Forte over a civic though considering the baseline of a civic is about 16k with very little options and further fancy options that costs way to much compared to the Kia. The Kia's baseline price is 13-14k and goes as high as 23k...for a sedan ex/lx model, but the car is nice, good design, nice handling, decent interior and good price, if looking for a cheap car, a Forte is a good choice

At the end of the day, who is going to pay $20k + for a slow, chinced-out version of an Si that can be had for about $1K more?that is misleading as there is $4,000 difference between a SX manual Koupe and the Honda Si base model, whether you live in the US or Canada.

I would like to add to this by stating that I think the Forte SX is going after a slightly different crowd. The Civic SI and Mazdaspeed 3 are several thousand more and come only in manuals. The cars are more hard core and are faster. But the SX fit the bill for me perfectly. Automatic so my wife could drive it, yet sporty enough to have fun in it. And only $1000 more than the "normal" EX model.

Since this is a forte vs civic string, I test drove both the Civic and Mazda 3 before settling on the Forte SX. I will admit the the interior of the Civic was nicer in my opinion, though not soft touch the dash did look and feel high quality. However, having said that I still think the Forte interior does itself justice and is miles ahead of the domestics (at least in EX and SX trim). For the same money the Forte just came with so many standard features including the blue tooth, sirius radio, more interior room, USB and aux jacks, and 17 inch rims all standard on the SX. In the end it was these things that won me out over the slightly nicer interior of the civic.

Forte SX > Civic LX. There's just too many people out there that haggle others about buying a Honda over Kia or any other car company. Not only do you get a really well built car (inside and out) but you also get your money's worth when it comes to gas and safety. The Forte has a koup has a 24/38mpg ratio, and the ability to go into "ECO" mode (helps attain the best mileage possible). The car also has a 5star reputation on airbags, and safety. For example, the crumple zones on the hood. When you are in a head on collision the hood actually crumples up instead of being pushed forward into you, as well as the motor dropping down and out instead of ending up on your lap. There are airbags EVERYWHERE. Trust me when i say everywhere. Depending on where you buy your car from, you can get unlimited free car washes, Super knowledgable Car techs, that know KIA cars from inside out. They also have an amazing warrenty, 10yr/100,000miles. No other car company does that. If you buy a new car, you get right off the bat, Full gas tank, new oil change, and of course a car wash. So you leave the lot extremely happy/satisfied.